Chapter Seven

Biohazard

Jeannie Pratts tried to rise from the chair but her body wouldn't respond to her command's any longer. There was this strange tingling sensation in her arms and legs that made no sense and her ears kept ringing for no reason. A sharp pain manifested itself in the center of her chest and spread like a wildflower through her system. It felt like acid was flowing in her veins and she screamed in agony as she crashed to the ground.

Tilly looked helplessly at the other woman. "Oh, my goodness," she exclaimed as she rushed over and knelt down next to Pratts and turned her on her back. She jerked backwards as she saw the wild look in Pratts' eyes and glanced up as the others rushed into the room. The young ensign stared at Pike with wide eyes, unsure of what to do.

The captain quickly made his way over and knelt down by the nurse's other side. "Sister Pratts," he called softly.

The woman stared unseeingly at him for a moment, her eyes glazed and unfocussed, then she made a feeble attempt to pick herself up from the floor but she was so weak that all she succeeded with was to move ever so slightly to the right and moan.

Tilly looked from the nurse to the captain sadly. "She's burning up," she said in amazement.

Pike pursed his lips into a thin line of displeasure. "Jeannie, why did you take off your suit?" he asked kindly.

She opened her eyes to look at him, confusion and pain written all over her face. "You-," she swallowed, "-told me it was safe."

"Discovery to away team, Captain Pike please respond," Saru's voice came loud and clear over the open channel.

"Discovery, this is Commander Burnham," Michael said as she distractingly glanced at Pike and Tilly hovering over the nurse and biohazard specialist who seemed to be convulsing on the floor. "We have a medical emergency. Can you beam us out?"

The straightforwardness and seriousness in the commander's voice silenced the entire bridge crew momentarily.

Rhys and Bryce shared a worried glance across the room while Detmer and Owosekun shook their heads in denial. Spock, Stamets and Nilsson stopped what they were doing at the small science compartment next to the bridge, having heard the transmission over the PA-system connecting the two rooms. Cornwell unconsciously tightened her grip around the armrests of the captain's chair while Pollard's fingers flew over the science station's console, temporarily used for medical science.

Before the admiral or the XO could answer, another voice carried over the channel. "Discovery, this is Captain Pike. I need a status report. Is it safe or even doable to beam Sr. Pratts back to Discovery?"

Having years of experience Cornwell found her voice first. "Captain, it's good to hear your voice," she said, trying to keep her relief hidden; Nurse Pratts's life was worth just as much as Chris's. "We've been trying to get in touch with you for hours – what is going on over there?"

"Later," Pike replied uncharacteristically serious, his voice cold. "Pratts have been infected by something, she's convulsing, her heartbeat is rushed, her breathing shallow and her system is shutting down. She needs immediate medical attention."

"Captain," Tracy said seriously. "This is Doctor Pollard. I can only help you over distance right now. I'll let Admiral Cornwell fill you in later. You have to find Nurse Pratts' bag. It contains an EpiPen-,"

Pike looked at Burnham and rose from his position next to the convulsing woman to begin the search.

Reno found it almost immediately in the back of the room, grabbed it and rushed over with it. Pike rummaged through its content as Pollard was giving instructions over the open communications channel.

"We have it!" Pike reported.

"Good, now inject it's content in the thigh," Pollard instructed. "When it's-."

"No," Tilly spoke up as the voice of the doctor became garbled until it was unrecognizable.

"Damn," Reno muttered and shook her head. "That program is smarter than I gave it credit for. I thought I'd taken it offline permanently. It keeps rewriting itself to be able to reboot."

OOOOOO

"Communications have been lost," Bryce reported.

"Get them back!" Cornwell ordered.

Bryce shook his head dejectedly. "I am sorry, I can't."

"Bridge, this is sickbay," Culber called, having been listening on the live feed from the bridge. "I'm volunteering to go over there using a shuttle."

"The computer virus is far from ready," Cornwell reasoned. "I am not sending you over there alone. Besides, I won't risk your life when I-,"

"With all due respect, Admiral Cornwell," he interrupted seriously. "I want to risk my life if I can save the others. I am a doctor, remember?"

"And I will be escorting him," Nhan stated, her mind made up and unchangeable.

Cornwell shook her head.

"It might be hard decision for you to make, ma'am, but it is not hard for me or Doctor Culber," the head of security reasoned.

Kat sighed. "Go," she said finally with a nod.

OOOOOO

Reno hung her head as Pratts' eyes rolled up and glazed over one last time before her body stopped convulsing and stayed still, death was coming upon her and there was nothing they could do to help her.

"No, no, no," Tilly repeated as she steadied the other woman's head in her lap. "Please," she begged.

Pike clenched his jaw, his blue eyes hardening as he wasn't ready to lose yet another member of his crew. He never wanted her to come, still he felt responsible for her death, for sending her to eternity.

As if sensing his guilt, Michael gently placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. "Captain, there was nothing you could do," she whispered kindly.

He sighed. "I know that," he replied darkly. "It doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Captain," Tilly spoke up suddenly with a frown. "What did she mean when she told us you said it was safe?"

"The AI," Reno deduced. "It tricked her somehow into believing it was you," she said and nodded to Pike.

"Warning, oxygen deprivation imminent," a small voice spoke up in Tilly's earbuds. Confused she kindly let go of Pratts' head and reached up to tap at her small display situated on the left arm of the airtight suit.

"Tilly?" Michael called, slightly alarmed.

The ensign swallowed; her mouth suddenly dry. "I've been compromised." In pure desperation she reached out for Pratts' half-filled tubes but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Tilly looked up only to stare into the deep blue eyes of her captain.

He shook his head. "If it's airborne, it's in her airflow," he reasoned kindly.

Tilly's lower lip quivered for a moment, then something sparked in her and she reached up to unclip her helmet. The rush of stale air against her face was both horrendous and wonderful at the same time, it saved her from suffocating to death but she knew the respite was temporary; she knew because she'd seen Pratts' last moment in life.

"I must have damaged my suit when I was slammed against that stupid wall," she offered to the gloomy faces around her.

"If it is to any consolation my tanks are almost depleted too," the captain said kindly as he reached out to give her a hand up.

"And when had you planned to tell the rest of us?" Michael admonished.

"When it was necessary to do so," he replied simply, his voice soft and kind, defusing the harshness and anger in Burnham's. "I saw no reason to trouble the rest of you."

Michael was both in awe and angered by his unselfishness. She grabbed his gloved left hand and ran a tricorder over it. She must have missed something earlier. The gadget beeped loudly as it recorded injury.

"It burned through the suit," he explained unnecessarily as he turned his hand so that the palm of it was up and then curled his fingers slightly to look at the blackened fingertips.

"Damn you," Michael whispered coldly.

Pike broke into a dimpled grin. "Are you talking to me or AI Pike?" he asked somewhat amused.

She couldn't help but to smirk at him. "I am not sure; I think it's both of you, but for entirely different reasons," she replied then her lips curled upwards and her voice softened. "I am sorry for the insubordination, sir."

"There is a lot of static on my communication's channel right now," he said lightly. It was his way of letting her know that he was fine with it. "Ensign Tilly, are you okay?"

She nodded and forced a smile. "Yeah, it just feels strange being out of the suit and seeing you all dressed up."

Pike nodded slyly and reached up to unclip his helmet. "I'll join you."

Reno silently made her way over to Pratts and gently placed Tilly's gloves under her head. She brushed away a strain of hair that lay plastered to the woman's check and gave her a sad smile. "May you rest in peace, honey," she whispered.

"We can't take her with us, can we?" Tilly asked.

"I am not leaving anyone behind; not if I can prevent it," Pike replied seriously. "Now, I think it's time that we took a proper tour around this place and see what we can find."

OOOOOO

"You know, I completely understand Admiral Cornwell's reasoning," Hugh said softly as he popped his head into the back of the shuttle and then proceeded to walk onto the lowered ramp in Discovery's hangar bay.

Nhan pursed her lips as she performed the pre-flight check. "Do you have everything you need, doctor?" she replied curtly, never taking her eyes off the console.

"Judging by what we heard over the open channel, there's something over there that is lethal which our scanners failed to pick up," Culber said seriously as he stuffed the two medical bags in the back and sat down next to the Chief of Security. "This is a one-way-trip, and by giving us the greenlight, the admiral has signed our death sentence."

That earned him a sideway glance from the Barzan as she hit the control to close up the vehicle and start to hover. "Bridge, this shuttlepod Phoenix, we're ready to roll."

"Bridge, this is Saru, we're opening the bay doors. Break a leg commander, doctor," he said kindly.

"Safe journey," Cornwell added.

"We'll be back," Nhan promised. "Phoenix out."

Driving the shuttle through the opening she gave her colleague a faint smile. "I understand the admiral as well, Doctor Culber. It's just that we leave no one behind. I don't expect you to understand but serving onboard the Enterprise while in deep space, cut off from the rest of the Federation and Starfleet, you develop some kind of sixth sense and you have to have faith in your commanding officer and crewmates or you'd all end up dead."

Hugh studied her for a moment, his lips curling slightly upwards as he nodded. "You know, I haven't served on many ships before I embarked on that brand-new ship called the Discovery. I was stationed on Earth and then I ventured off into space, to a Starbase. Conditions there are sometimes hectic, sometimes dull, but the chain of command remains static. You see the station commander, report to him, then you go different ways and get on with your life until its time to report again. I guess I wasn't prepared for what I signed onto with Discovery, luckily I had Paul with me."

Nhan turned to him slightly amused.

He shook his head. "I guess that what I am trying to say is that up until these last few months after returning to the land of the living I'd never experienced or met a captain as dynamic, diplomatic and kind as Christopher Pike; he gives me hope in all this darkness."

"To me he's been the only authority present for five years. Trust me when I say that the Enterprise has had its share of losses, of adventures and crazy experiences. Besides, there are a lot of good people onboard the Discovery; those on the away team are four of them. We've already lost one and I am not going to let it be more casualties."

"I am with you there," Hugh said softly. "Now, how do we get in?"

Nhan gave him a confident sideway glance. "We knock."

OOOOOO

To be continued